NBA Free Agency 2012: 4 GMs Who Made Terrible Signings

Do you ever just stare at your computer screen and scratch your head as you wonder what a general manager was thinking when he decided to make a certain deal?

I certainly do, as do fans of these four NBA teams whose general managers made mind-boggling deals thus far in the free-agency period.

Some of these GMs must have just forgotten the simple truism that you're supposed to use free agency to fill needs, finding bargains who can contribute to the squad without hindering the development of younger players.

Rod Thorn, Philadelphia 76ers

The Philadelphia 76ers have a ton of wing players and drafted one more in Maurice Harkless, so it only makes sense that they'd pursue players who do things other than line up at shooting guard and small forward during the 2012 offseason, right?

Well, apparently Rod Thorn thinks that he has to continue to collect those kinds of players. That's the only explanation I can come up with for his signing of Nick Young to a one-year deal for $6 million.

Young doesn't like to pass the ball, stands 6'7" and can play—wait for it—shooting guard and a bit of small forward.

Had the Sixers actually needed them, $6 million could have been a nice price to pay for Young's services.

Lance Blanks, Phoenix Suns

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Just to be clear, I'm not including Lance Blanks in this article because he traded away Steve Nash. That wasn't a bad move, and for the purposes of this article, you may as well forget it ever happened.

That said, the signing of Goran Dragic didn't make much sense. First of all, the Phoenix Suns probably never should have let him go in the first place, much less sign him once more just a short while later.

The Suns spent their first draft pick of the 2012 NBA draft on Kendall Marshall, an NBA-ready point guard who can already distribute the ball at a supremely high level. As good as Dragic may have been during his brief time as the starting point guard for the Houston Rockets, he's going to hinder the development of Marshall by cutting into his playing time.

Phoenix would have been better off investing its money into some other niche for the team, rather than adding another point guard to the mix, particularly an unproven one with only a small sample size of starts for evaluation.

Neil Olshey, Portland Trail Blazers

For this section of the article, I'm operating under the assumption that the Indiana Pacers choose not to match the Portland Trail Blazers offer for Roy Hibbert and the big man chances locations, lining up alongside LaMarcus Aldridge in one of the better frontcourts the NBA has to offer.

Sounds good, doesn't it?

The problem is that the Blazers would no longer have the funds realistically necessary to retain Nicolas Batum, and they'd be left with an incredibly weak backcourt.

Raymond Felton is gone. Jamal Crawford is gone. Jonny Flynn could be gone.

As good as the frontcourt may be, it will all be for naught if Nolan Smith is left as the best point guard on the roster while Wesley Matthews is the starting shooting guard.

Bryan Colangelo, Toronto Raptors

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While acquiring Kyle Lowry was a great move, the same cannot be said about the potential acquisition of Landry Fields.

The shooting guard was given an offer sheet by Bryan Colangelo and the Toronto Raptors in hopes of using him in a sign-and-trade during the Steve Nash sweepstakes. However, Nash is now a member of the Los Angeles Lakers, and it's unlikely that the New York Knicks will match the offer for Fields seeing as the team is a bit strapped for cash.

Fields proved last season that his rookie year was a bit of a fluke. Sure, he's a great rebounder for a shooting guard, but he doesn't shoot well, his rebounding skills are already declining and he doesn't play defense well.